“This afternoon, WHO gave emergency use listing to sign off on Beijing’s Covid-19 vaccine, making it the sixth vaccine to receive WHO validation for safety, efficacy and quality,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhahom Ghebreysus told reporters. .The Sinopharm vaccine will join ones made by Pfizer-BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and a version of the AstraZeneca vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India, in receiving the coveted authorization from the UN health agency. “The addition of (the Sinopharm) vaccine has the potential to rapidly accelerate Covid-19 vaccine access for countries seeking to protect health workers and populations at risk,” said Dr. Mariangela Simao, WHO assistant director general for access to health products. Previously, a separate group advising WHO on vaccines said it was “very confident” the Sinopharm vaccine protects people ages 18-59. The Chinese vaccines are “inactivated” vaccines, made with killed coronavirus.

Source: Manila Times May 07, 2021 19:07 UTC